The Chatham Islands from space. Chatham Island is the largest, Pitt Island is the second largest, and South East Island is the small island to the right of Pitt.

The archipelago of the Chatham Islands (Rekohu in the Moriori language and Wharekauri in the Māori language), consists of about 10 islands within a 40-km radius. The islands have officially belonged to New Zealand since 1842. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1631x1632, 269 KB) Summary Chatham Islands, photo taken by Astronaut aboard the ISS Based on Public Domain image from Nasa. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1631x1632, 269 KB) Summary Chatham Islands, photo taken by Astronaut aboard the ISS Based on Public Domain image from Nasa. ... The Mergui Archipelago An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... For the language of the same name spoken in New Guinea, see Moriori language (New Guinea). ... Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ... km redirects here. ...

Geography

The islands as a grouping are located at about 43°59′17″S, 176°27′13″W, roughly 800 km east of Christchurch, New Zealand. They cover a total of 966 km², almost all of which is in the two main islands, Chatham Island (43°53′54″S, 176°31′44″W) and Pitt Island (44°18′01″S, 176°13′14″W). Christchurch is the regional capital of Canterbury, New Zealand. ... Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand, named after the survey ship HMS Chatham which discovered the island in 1791. ... Pitt Island or Rangiauria is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands, territorially part of New Zealand, the mainland of which lies 800 kilometres to the west. ...

The two main islands are the only inhabited islands, with the smaller islands mostly conservation reserves with access restricted or prohibited.

Names of the main islands are (in English, Māori and Moriori): Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ... For the language of the same name spoken in New Guinea, see Moriori language (New Guinea). ...

• Chatham Island/Wharekauri/Rekohu (43°53′54″S, 176°31′44″W)
• Pitt Island/Rangiauria (44°18′01″S, 176°13′14″W)
• Little Mangere Island
• Star Keys/Motuhope - a group of five islets with Round Islet being the largest — located 12 km east of Pitt Island
• Forty-Fours (or Forty Fours)/Motuhara - located some 50 km east of Chatham Island
• Mangere Island (1.13 km²) - lying off Pitt Island
• South East Island/Rangatira (2.18 km²) - located 2 km southeast of Pitt Island
• The Sisters/Rangitatahi - located around 16 km north of Cape Pattison (Cape Pattison is a headland in the northwestern part of Chatham Island)

The position of the Chatham Islands relative to New Zealand, and other outlying islands.

Some of these islands, once cleared for farming, are now preserved as nature reserves to conserve some of the flora and fauna that are unique to the Chatham Islands. Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand, named after the survey ship HMS Chatham which discovered the island in 1791. ... Pitt Island from space Pitt Island or Rangiauria is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands, territorially part of New Zealand, the mainland of which lies 800 kilometres to the west. ... Litle Mangere Island is part of the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Star Keys/Motuhope is part of the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Star Keys/Motuhope is part of the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Pitt Island or Rangiauria is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands, territorially part of New Zealand, the mainland of which lies 800 kilometres to the west. ... Forty-Fours/Motuhara is part of the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand, named after the survey ship HMS Chatham which discovered the island in 1791. ... Mangere Island is part of the Chatham Islands archipelago, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island and has an area of 113 hectares. ... Pitt Island or Rangiauria is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands, territorially part of New Zealand, the mainland of which lies 800 kilometres to the west. ... South East Island/Rangatira is the third largest island in the Chatham Islands chain, and covers an area of 218 hectares. ... Pitt Island or Rangiauria is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands, territorially part of New Zealand, the mainland of which lies 800 kilometres to the west. ... The Sisters/Rangitatahi is part of the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Cape Pattison is a headland in the northwest of Chatham Island, the largest island in the Chatham Islands chain, located 800 km east of New Zealands South Island. ... Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand, named after the survey ship HMS Chatham which discovered the island in 1791. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (911x581, 74 KB) Summary A map showing some of the outlying islands of New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Islands, as well as Australias Macquarie Island. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (911x581, 74 KB) Summary A map showing some of the outlying islands of New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Islands, as well as Australias Macquarie Island. ...

Most of the land is fern or pasture covered, although there are some areas of forest. Of interest are the macrocarpa trees, with branches trailing almost horizontally in the lee of the wind. The islands are hilly – Pitt more so than Chatham – with the highest point being Maungatere Hill (294 m) in the southwest of the main island. The main island of the chain is dotted with numerous lakes and lagoons, notably the large Te Whanga Lagoon. Other lakes on Chatham include Huro and Rangitahi. The main island has streams including Te Awainanga and Tuku. Binomial name Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw. ... Covering 180 km2, Te Whanga Lagoon dominates the geography of Chatham Island, in the South Pacific Ocean off New Zealands east coast. ...

The international date line lies to the east of the Chathams, even though the islands lie east of 180° longitude. Consequently, the Chatham Islands observe their own time, 45 minutes ahead of New Zealand time, including during periods of daylight saving. (New Zealand Time orients itself to 180° longitude.) Chatham Island is an antipode point of the French department of Hérault (Provence). The International Date Line around 180° This article is about the line dividing time zones; see Dateline (disambiguation) for other meanings, including the television program. ... On November 2, 1868, New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally, and was perhaps the first country to do so. ... This world map (in red) is overlaid with an antipodal map (in yellow) showing the antipodes of each point on the Earths surface. ... Hérault is a département in the southwest of France named after the Hérault River. ... Coat of arms of Provence Provence (Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a former Roman province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to the Italian border. ...

History

The first human habitation of the Chathams involved migrating Polynesian tribes who settled the islands about 1500 CE, and in their isolation became the Moriori people. The exact origins of these people remains a matter of some dispute. The Moriori population of the islands numbered about 2000. They lived as hunter-gatherers, taking food from the sea and from native flora. The society lived peacefully, resolving disputes through consensus rather than warfare. Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... http://www. ... Era Vulgaris redirects here. ... Moriori are the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands (Rekohu in the Moriori language), east of the New Zealand archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ...

The name "Chatham Islands" comes from the ship HMS Chatham, whose captain William R. Broughton landed on November 29, 1791, claimed possession for Great Britain and named the islands after the political head of the Royal Navy (coincidentally also named Chatham). Sealers and whalers soon started hunting in the surrounding ocean with the islands as their base. It is estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the indigenous population soon died from diseases introduced by foreigners. The sealing and whaling industries ceased activities about 1861, while fishing remained as a major economic activity. For other uses, see HMS Chatham. ... ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Seal hunting or sealing refers to the practice, history and industries associated with both personal and commercial hunting of seals. ... The crew of the oceanographic research vessel Princesse Alice, of Albert Grimaldi (later Prince Albert I of Monaco) pose while flensing a catch. ... Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering animals not classifiable as insects which breathe in water or pass their lives in water. ...

On November 19, 1835, a ship carrying 500 Māori armed with guns, clubs and axes arrived, followed by another ship on December 5, 1835 with a further 400 Māori. They proceeded to massacre the Moriori and enslave the survivors. A Moriori survivor recalled: "[The Māori] commenced to kill us like sheep.... [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed - men, women and children indiscriminately". A Māori conqueror justified their actions as follows: "We took possession... in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped....."^[1] November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The word massacre has a number of meanings, but most commonly refers to individual events of deliberate and direct mass killing, especially of noncombatant civilians or other innocents, that would often qualify as war crimes or atrocities. ...

The invading Māori and European whalers inter-married with the remaining indigenous population. Today, some island families still continue a Moriori lineage, and the Moriori culture has slowly recovered. Moriori have recently established a national marae and united under the Hokotehi Trust. A Maori word now common in New Zealand English, marae refers an area of land where the Wharenui or meeting house (literally big house) sits. ...

An all-male group of German Lutheran missionaries arrived in 1843, who were followed by a group of women three years later. Many members of the existing population can trace their ancestry back to the original missionary families.

Origin claims

The origin of the indigenous population has political significance; if they are descended from the 1845 Māori invaders, or from earlier Māori from mainland New Zealand, then they have a claim to the ancestral Māori fishing rights which would be recognized by New Zealand. 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

However, since the 1800s it has been thought that the original Moriori arrived directly from more northerly Polynesian islands, which would make the Moriori's fishing rights claim invalid. Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1805 - 1815). ...

Modern inhabitants, descendants of those who invaded and conquered the archipelago in 1835, claim access to ancestral Māori fishing rights. An extensive report on these claims, "Rekohu", has been published by the Waitangi Tribunal.[1] The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand court empowered to compensate Maori people for land obtained by fraud or by force since 1840. ...

Population

Chatham Islands Flag (unofficial, but is widely used on the Islands)

Chatham and Pitt Islands are inhabited. The population of 717 (Census 2001) individuals have European (70%), Māori and Moriori origins. The town of Waitangi is the main settlement with some 200 residents. Other villages are at Te One and Kaingaroa (where two primary schools are located. A third school can be found on Pitt Island). There are also the fishing villages of Owenga and Port Hutt. Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Chatham_Islands_(unofficial). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Chatham_Islands_(unofficial). ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Languages Māori, English Religions Māori religion, Christianity Related ethnic groups other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and their language. ... Moriori are the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands (Rekohu in the Moriori language), east of the New Zealand archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. ... Waitangi is the main settlement on the Chatham Islands. ...

Waitangi facilities include a hospital with resident doctor, trading bank, several stores, and engineering and marine services. The main shipping wharf is located here.

Transportation

Visitors to the Chathams usually arrive by air from Christchurch, Auckland or Wellington (around 1.5 - 2 hours from Christchurch on a Convair 580). While freight generally arrives by ship (4 - 5 days' sailing time), the sea journey takes too long for many passengers, and is not always available. Christchurch is the regional capital of Canterbury, New Zealand. ... Schematic map of Auckland. ... For other uses, see Wellington (disambiguation). ... The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, universally known as Convair, was the result of a 1943 merger between Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft, resulting in a leading aircraft manufacturer of the United States. ...

Although the Chathams are part of New Zealand, and there are no border controls or formalities on arrival, visitors are required to have prearranged their accommodation on the islands before arriving. Transport operators may refuse to carry passengers without accommodation bookings. Also, there are no scheduled public transport services on the island but accommodation providers are normally able to arrange transport as well.

For many years a Bristol Freighter served the islands, a slow and noisy freight aircraft converted for carrying passengers by installing a passenger container equipped with airline seats and a toilet in part of the cargo hold. The air service primarily served to ship out high-value export crayfish products. The Bristol Type 170 Freighter was a twin-engined propeller cargo aircraft designed and built by Bristol Aeroplane Company as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively short distances. ... Families Astacoidea   Astacidae   Cambaridae Parastacoidea   Parastacidae Crayfish, often referred to as crawfish or crawdad, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are closely related. ...

The grass landing-field at Hapupu, at the northern end of the Island, proved a limiting factor, as few aircraft apart from the Bristol Freighter had both the range to fly to the islands and the ruggedness to land on the grass airstrip. Although other aircraft did use the landing field occasionally, they would often require repairs to fix damage resulting from the rough landing. In 1991, after many years of requests by locals and the imminent demise of the aging Bristol Freighter aircraft, the construction of a sealed runway at Karewa allowed more modern aircraft to land safely. The Chathams' own airline, Air Chathams, now operates services to Auckland on Thursdays, Wellington on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Christchurch on Tuesdays. The timetable varies seasonally, but generally planes depart the Chathams around 10.30 am (Chathams Time) and arrive in the mainland around noon. Then they refuel and reload, depart again at around 1 pm, back to the Chathams. Air Chathams operates twin turboprop Convair 580 aircraft in combi (freight and passenger) configurations and Fairchild Metroliners. Air Chathams is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Reef Shipping operates shipping services from Auckland and Napier, and Black Robin Freighters operates shipping services from Timaru and Napier. Napier is an important port city in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ... Timaru is a major port city in south Canterbury, New Zealand, located 160 kilometres south of Christchurch and about 200 kilometres north of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. ... Napier is an important port city in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ...

Visitors to the islands should pre-arrange their accommodation before arrival with The Ultimate Hideaway, Chatham Lodge, Waitangi Hotel, Chathams Motel, or local homestays. The islands have rental vehicles, but no taxis or public transport.

Driving in the Chathams is fun. There is a small section of tar sealed road between Waitangi and Te One but the majority of the island's roads are gravel. A good map should be purchased on the mainland as it is easy for visitors to get lost if they miss a signpost. Extra care is required when driving at night because of cows and sheep on the roads, and oncoming vehicles with or without lights!

Government

Electorates

In Parliament, until the 1980s the Chathams constituted part of the Lyttelton electorate, but since that time they have formed part of the Rongotai general electorate, which mostly lies in Wellington. Annette King serves as the Member for Rongotai. The Te Tai Tonga Māori seat (held in 2004 by Mahara Okeroa) also includes the Chatham Islands. The term of all current Parliamentarians expires at the next General Election. Lyttelton on a sunny day Lyttelton (43. ... Annette Faye King (born 13 September New Zealand politician. ... Māori Seats giving positions for Māori in the New Zealand Parliament were not created until 1867 even though Westminster-style Parliamentary Government was established in New Zealand in 1852. ... Members of New Zealands House of Representatives, commonly called Parliament, normally gain their seats in nationwide general elections, or (less frequently) in by-elections. ...

Local Government

Local government on the islands, uniquely within New Zealand, involves a council established by its own Act of Parliament, the (Chatham Islands Council Act 1995). The Chatham Islands Council operates as a district council with regional council functions, making it in effect a unitary authority but with not quite as many responsibilities as the others. Local governments are administrative offices of an area smaller than a state or province. ... Territorial authorities is the formal term for the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. ... Region is the formal term for the top tier of local government in New Zealand. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ...

State Services

Policing is carried out by a sole-charge constable appointed by the Wellington police district, who at various times has often doubled as an official for many government departments, including court registrar (Department for Courts), customs officer (New Zealand Customs Service) and immigration officer (Department of Labour - New Zealand Immigration Service). A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. ... For other uses, see Wellington (disambiguation). ... State sector organisations in New Zealand (as at January 2004) are as follows: Parliamentary Offices Office of the Controller and Auditor-General (Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake) Office of the Ombudsmen (Nga Kaitiaki Mana Tangata) Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare P...

A District Court judge sent from either the North Island or the South Island presides over court sittings, but urgent sittings may take place at the Wellington District Court. North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ... The South Island The South Island is one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ... For other uses, see Wellington (disambiguation). ...

Because of the isolation and small population, some of the rules governing daily activities undergo a certain relaxation on some of New Zealand's smaller islands. For example, every transport service operated solely on Great Barrier Island, the Chatham Islands or Stewart Island need not comply with section 70C of the Transport Act 1962 (the requirements for drivers to maintain driving-hours logbooks). Drivers subject to section 70B must nevertheless keep record of their driving hours in some form. See New Zealand Gazette 14 August 2003. August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

For the Chatham Islands' numismatic history see the following;

• History of Chatham Islands numismatics

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Health

The partially-elected Hawke's Bay District Health Board provides the islands with health services. Hawkes Bay is a region of New Zealand. ...

Education

There are three schools on the Chatham Islands, at Kaingaroa, Te One and Pitt Island. Pitt Island and Kaingaroa are staffed by sole charge principals while Te One has three teachers and a principal.These schools cater for children from Year 1 to 8. There is no secondary school on the Chathams. The majority of secondary school aged students leave the island for boarding schools in New Zealand. A small number remain on the island and carry out their secondary education through correspondence.

In fiction

In Jules Verne's Robur the Conqueror, Robur anchors his flying vessel Albatross over the islands after the horizontal propellers are damaged in a storm. Jules Verne. ... Robur-the-Conqueror (Robur-le-Conquérant in original French) is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne, published in 1886. ...

David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas (ISBN 0375507256) describes an imagined life of an 18th Century American traveller who ends up on the Chatham Islands. He describes a number of incidents involving Moriori and Maori and "western" peoples, as well as giving a brief history of the Moriori people. David Mitchell in Poland, Warsaw, April 7, 2006 David Mitchell (born January, 1969) is an English novelist. ... Cover design Cloud Atlas is a 2004 novel, the third book by British author David Mitchell. ...

References

1. ^ Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies", p. 53, Jared Diamond, 1997, New York, W.W. Norton.

Jared Mason Diamond (born 10 September 1937) is an American evolutionary biologist, physiologist, biogeographer and nonfiction author. ...

External links

• Chatham Islands Council
• Hokotehi Moriori Trust
• 1998 Information
• Department of Conservation information
• Unofficial Flag
• History of Chatham Islands numismatics
• Chatham Islands Council Act 1995
• Massey University study of Chathams ecology
• Information and pictures of Chatham Islands. The Sisters are also mentioned
• Chathams Islands from satellite on Google Maps: on the center of the image

Chatham Islands
Chatham Island/Rekohu/Wharekauri | Pitt Island/Rangiauria | Little Mangere Island | Star Keys/Motuhope | Forty-Fours/Motuhara | Mangere Island | South East Island/Rangatira | The Sisters/Rangitatahi